Kathy fell to her knees beside us. Fisk was in my arms, unconscious but alive. Kathy reached for him. My hands tightened around his shoulders, unwilling to let him go. Kathy faltered. I was vaguely aware of her eyes on my face, but my attention remained on Fisk.

"Damn..." Kathy finally drew my surprised gaze when she swore. My sister rarely cursed. She stared at me through lenses speckled with raindrops. Her hair sticking to her neck from the rain. I had pulled Fisk under the cover of the trees, so we weren't half as badly off, though a bit more muddy. "Damn..." She muttered again. "I had really hoped I was wrong." My brows furrowed in confusion. But I was distracted by Fisk shivering.

I fumbled to unlatch my cloak. Kathy moved behind me before I could remove the heavy clothing and took it herself. She spread it over her husband lovingly before she returned to her place beside me. I looked down at my former squire's face. I often forgot how young he was... His face looked even younger now. Innocent... In need of protection...

"I had a crush on Fisk from the moment you first brought him home." Kathy confessed. I blinked.

"You barely spoke to him." I stared at her perplexed. She shrugged.

"Yes, 'twas a silly little girl crush at first. 'Twas not like I met many new young men. I was fourteen and stuck where I was. Too young to be considered for marriage but old enough to have an idea of what I wanted." She smiled bitterly. "Too isolated to find someone to have a crush on." She reached for Fisk and stroked his hair. "Until my wayward brother started dragging around a rogue he'd redeemed the way he did that abused puppy he found when he was six." I almost smiled at that. It had taken months to get that dog to trust me. "Then, when I heard about how he supported you I wanted to stay in touch with him."

"So you weren't just writing to him to check up on me then?" I asked amused. Fisk shifted and I turned my attention back to him. I adjusted him so that he lay more comfortably, more securely in my arms.

"The letters just helped me fall for him more." She admitted. "Fisk is a remarkable man."

"That he is." I agreed.

"So when did you realize that you were in love with him?" Kathy asked. I froze. We sat there like that a moment, the sound of the rain doing nothing to sooth me. I almost started when I felt Kathy's hand on my head, only catching myself when I realized that such an action would disturb Fisk. Kathy merely tucked my hair behind my ear. "I told you mine." She reminded me gently. I swallowed. It wasn't so much the question as it was that she had actually noticed my feelings towards Fisk.

"I'm not sure that there was a time I didn't love him." I confessed. And it was true. I had been drawn to the rogue even before his name had been called at the end of that trial. The fifty-two gold roundels I had used to redeem him was the best money I'd ever spent. "I thought that my feelings for Rosa were stronger, but I was wrong." I closed my eyes. "'Tis better left alone Kathy. I am truly glad that you and Fisk are together." Even if it meant that Kathy would always come before me in Fisk's heart. The fact that I had any of the man's love was enough to keep me going.

Kathy was silent. I refused to break that silence. I tried to focus on the good things. The sounds of the rain. Of Fisk's breath. Of the warmth of his body in my arms. "I remind him of you." My eyes snapped open and I stared at Kathy. She smiled at me weakly. "I do." She said simply. "And this 'tis not fair." I tried to swallow, but I could not. I tried to tell her the world 'twas not fair (something learned by hard experience and Fisk's constant reminders) but I could not. Something in her expression hardened slightly with determination. She looked at her husband and took my hand. "This isn't permission." She warned. "But he won't mind." She placed my hand on Fisk's hair. I stared at her in utter bewilderment. Kathy raised an eyebrow.

Slowly, hesitantly, I began to stroke his hair. It was softer than it had looked while we were traveling while I was an unredeemed knight errant. Fisk seemed to enjoy my ministrations because his head tilted just a fraction into my hand. "There's no reason we can't both be happy." Kathy said softly. "Not that this would be possible with anyone else." I could hear the smile in her voice. "We always could share with each other better than we could share with our other brothers." I looked up at her, overwhelmed and confused, but grateful. We sat like that a while longer.

Fisk let out a deep sigh in his sleep and turned his head a bit more towards me. I ran my thumb down his cheek. The face, usually set in cynical lines, was relaxed. It reminded me of all of the times that I'd watched over him while we were camping, whether for animals, enemies on our trail, or simply to indulge in the satisfaction of seeing him alive.

Small fingers caught my wrist. "I don't think he'd be terribly comfortable with that yet." Kathy said with just a note of irritation. It was at that point I realized I'd been stroking Fisk's face. I flushed. I lowered my hand to adjust Fisk so he was in a more comfortable position again.

'Twas a long while before I had the courage to speak again. "Are you sure you're okay with this?" I asked. I wanted her to be. I wanted to share Fisk with her. But I was terrified of losing them both, which was a very real possibility in this case. Kathy removed her glasses and tried to wipe them off, but only succeeded in spreading the water around more.

"Michael, we ran away from home at different times, but with the same man." Kathy perched her glasses on her nose again. "I think I always recognized this as a possibility."